Tuesday, 18 August 2015

Good morning friends and happy Tuesday. Kim here today to share with you two fun card projects using the same stencil. Its amazing that you can get two different looks with basically the same stencil and embellishments. I have used opposite colours of pink and blue distress inks for these 4 1/4 x 5 1/2'' cards.

I used the Fleur De Lis Stencil from Rebecca's Store, and taped it down to my white cardstock with some of the mini masking tape that can also be found in Rebecca's Shop. I used some pink tones in the distress inks and started off with the lightest colour, and gradually moved down the page until I got to the darkest tone.

I ended up using some Simon Says Stamp ink for the final row as I wanted it to be very dark in comparison to the first light row.

Next I used my die cuts that I had ready. I used the Eiffel Tower and embossed it with two different tones of embossing powder, one in a pewter, and one a verdigris tone to pick up on the metallic look. I die cut out the "hello" sentiment and stamped on top of it with my script stamp and then adhered it to some bright pink cardstock, creating a dovetail at the end of the banner.

I stamped a postal image on top and added some sequins and pearls for a final touch.

For the second card, I used the same stencil, but reversed the way I used it. This time I put my blue tones of inks down first, creating a faux ombre effect going from lightest to darkest.

Next, I taped the stencil down again and got out a baby wipe and rubbed over the stencil removing some of the inks. Note, that this will only work with water based inks, and not with dye or pigment inks. When I removed the stencil I was left with a lovely shadowy effect and the Fleur De Lis appears lighter than the inks.

I used the same die cut Eiffel Tower, and a different script sentiment. I embossed them with some embossing powder, and again, added the stamp, some sequins and bling to finish it off .

Here are the two finished cards, side by side. You can see what a fun difference you can get using one stencil for two different cards.

Thursday, 13 August 2015

Good morning friends, today I have a fun share for you. I created this card specifically for the challenge over on the Spectrum Noir Blog﻿. This month the challenge is "Anything Goes!", so I thought I would dive in and have a go.

I am so enjoying playing with my Spectrum Noir Markers, I have had them for a while and been practicing behind the scenes with them. I feel a bit more confidant with them now, and have been watching lots of video tutorials!

I used one of my Prima Bloom Girl stamps for this 5 1/2 x 4 1/4'' card, I love these stamps, and they offer lots of real estate for colouring too!

I wanted her to be bright and vibrant so I used a great variety of Spectrum Noir colours.

Here is a close up of her face. I had fun making the skin tones, again I am a beginner, but I wanted her to look very soft against the bold colours I used around her. I did some shading with FS2 and PP1 was used for a bit of light blush on her cheeks. I used TB1 for her eye colour.

The finishing touches are some white Sharpie pen dots and a few pieces of bling here and there to add more dimension. I added a small "thanks" sentiment and matted it all on some DCWV dark purple cardstock.

I hope you like my card for today, and don't forget to check out the challenge over on the Spectrum Noir Blog!

Tuesday, 4 August 2015

Good morning friends, Kim here today to share with you some fun Zentangle inspired ATC's.

I had lots of fun with this project, I love making ATC's and I have been practicing doing Zentangle for a while, and thought this might be a good and easy way to help others who are new to this type of art. I thought that using layered stencils would be a fun and easy way to get the look of Zentangle but not do all the work.

I started off with the Artist Tool stencil and my Faber Castel black Pitt Pen and I traced around the outline of the palette. Next, I got out the Harlequin Damask stencil, and traced out a spot I liked on the stencil into the middle of the palette. In the photo on the bottom right you can see what it looked like.

Now its time for colour. I used some Hero Arts Inks and my water brush and moved the inks around on the paper. You can see on the photo below on the right how it came out.

I also did a second one with a different part of the Harlequin Damask stencil to achieve a different pattern on the second one. Once I had them both coloured it was time to start the Zentangle process. Now I am no expert, but I love how this stencil technique cut my work down to fill in the palette. I just started to doodle and fill in the blank spaces with lines, dots, squiggles and waves.

I kept going until I was happy with the outcome.

I decided to fussy cut out one of the palettes, and glue it down to some black ATC matte board. I love the look of the black for the background.

For the second one I just trimmed down the paper and then added some tiny gemstones and a sentiment from my ATC Stash.

You can see the difference in contrast from the black to the white backgrounds.

I added some white embossing paste to this one as well, using the Artist Tool Stencil once again to add texture and some images of the brushes.

I hope you will give this technique a try, I really enjoyed it, and I feel its good for a beginner Zentangl-er like me to use stencils to help the process along. Remember, it doesn't have to be perfect, just have fun!

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out Rebecca's Store and links below!

Sunday, 2 August 2015

Hello Friends! Today I have a fun share for all of you featuring papers and embellishments from The Robin's Nest. All month long the team at Gina's Designs Lasercuts is cross promoting with the team at The Robin's Nest, and we have been having a blast playing with the amazing products from them.

I started of this layout with my inspiration being this lovely lady in one of my vintage photos from my collection. She always looked "grumpy" to me, so I dubbed her "the grumpy lady". I always wonder who these folks are, where they were from and how their photos end up in yard sales and in thrift stores. I created some background texture on the "Fleur Honeycomb" paper with my texture paste and some Twinkling H2o's to pick up on the colour tones in the paper. I also added some of the Time Flies Rub ons from The Robins Nest to the background, I really love these, they fit in so well with the theme of the layout.

Once the background was complete, I started to layer on more of the papers from The Robin's Nest, some burlap and more chipboard from Gina's. I used this lovely chipboard frame from Gina's Designs. I took some of the Robin's Nest Dew Drops and placed them on the corner of the frame and then added a few to the ruler at the base of the photo to add some sparkle and shine!

My finishing touches were some lace from my stash and some gorgeous Petaloo flowers. I hope my "Grumpy Lady" is happy in her new home, and maybe somewhere out there, she is smiling.